Title

Author

Year of Publication

2017

Degree Name

Master of Science in Family Sciences (MSFS)

Document Type

Master's Thesis

College

Agriculture, Food and Environment

Department

Family Sciences

First Advisor

Dr. Jason Hans

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to empirically examine the extent to which rape myth acceptance (RMA) varies according to four key contextual factors—race, the victim–perpetrator relationship, resistance strategies, and the decision to report—among those embedded within college and military cultures. Although sexual assault in a university context has been thoroughly investigated, it is typically in comparison to the general population that may not share the same high-risk elements that promote the environment for sexual assault. Therefore, comparisons of college, military, and a general population were sampled to better understand the attitudes that maintain RMA in these high risk environments. Consistent with previous research aimed at understanding attitudes associated with RMA (Carroll et al., 2016; McMahon, 2010), findings from this study indicated that although individuals hold relatively low RMA overall, individuals tend to endorse other rape myths that blame the victim and exonerate the perpetrator. Specifically, race, resistance strategies, and the decision to report all influenced how likely individuals were to attribute some blame to the victim in the vignette.